Is English enough to manage teams in the Philippines?
When Flat Planet chose the Philippines as its base of operations for the Virtual Talent model the high level of English proficiency was a huge reason behind the decision.
English in the Philippines is very good. GlobalEnglish, a division of private education corporation Pearson, released a report citing the Philippines as the most ‘business English’ proficient nation on the planet.
On the ground in the Philippines, it is obvious much of this research is true and correct. English standards are great. However, you have to remember that English is NOT the first language of the Philippines. When you are a little kid growing up here, you learn Tagalog (in Metro Manila or most of Luzon) or one of several other major languages such as Visayan or one of the even more numerous dialects such as Waray.
What’s Going On?
Television including the nightly news in the Philippines is in Tagalog and many advertising billboards are also.
Therefore, while it is more than possible to function here using only English, it is necessary to understand a reasonable amount of Tagalog if you’re working with Filipinos and you want to know what is really going on. It is true not only in terms of the news but on the street as well. If you are in an elevator, the lunchroom with your staff, or in a shopping centre surrounded by strangers, the conversations will most likely be in Tagalog or Taglish. If you take your staff out for a function such as a Christmas party, they will often speak English with you but Tagalog to each other.
If you believe, like Flat Planet does, that culture is intrinsically tied to performance and productivity, then you must be able to understand enough Tagalog so as to be able to monitor the mood of your teams. If they are unhappy or complaining to each other, they will do so in Tagalog. If they are forming political cliques around certain personalities or if there is bullying and other common office shenanigans going on, it will all likely happen in Tagalog.
Understanding the Thought Process
I am not a student of languages generally, but I do speak a bit of Tagalog plus have a pretty strong technical understanding of the language’s grammar and sentence structure. It is very interesting.
One of the striking differences between Tagalog and English is that Tagalog requires the listener to insert a lot of assumptions. Often words are identical or similar and have different meanings only when placed in a certain context. Also, often a lot of critical information, such as the subject or the timing of an event is placed right at the very end of a sentence. Also, sentences are often very long.
By comparison you start to realise how precise the English language is featuring as it does many short sharp sentences and a huge vocabulary.
You have to always remember that most Filipinos actually think in Tagalog, not in English. If you understand this, and understand some Tagalog, then you can understand what they mean when they say something like ‘for a while’ or say 'Good Morning Ma’am' instead of 'Good Morning Sir.'
English Only Please
Many business centres have ‘English Only’ signs posted throughout. Even in the lunchroom, staff are expected to only speak English. I understand why. First, the idea is employees practice their English and ‘practice makes perfect’. Secondly, it means that you can walk around and listen in, thereby better understand what is going on.
However Flat Planet does not have this rule. There are three reasons:
- Business is about effective communication and people tend to communicate more effectively in their first language. Within Flat Planet almost all staff and all members of the executive team have Tagalog as their first language. It makes sense that communication between, say, our head accountant and one of her reports should be in Tagalog.
- Such a rule is not real as it is not in truth enforceable. How can you stop two people talking over the water cooler from using their first language?
- Our expat management team needs to learn Tagalog. We operate in the Philippines and claim to be experts at running teams and driving performance and productivity here. How can we claim this if we don’t understand the Philippine culture and way of thinking and how can you do that if you don’t understand the language?
In conclusion, we would argue that to visit the Philippines you don’t need to know any Tagalog. However, if you plan on doing business in the Philippines, and want to really embrace the place and develop a comprehensive understanding of the culture and truly understand the people, if you want your staff to fully engage with you around your goals and accept you as a real member of their team, and if you want to know what is really going on here, then you absolutely need to make the effort.
Chris, its was great article and well researched. I know a lot of marketers using Filipinos to do virtuall works like article wrting, niche topic research, transcription - due to this advantage. Hope for your continious trust and support to us Filipinos. Wish for your business success. More power.